Iowa State Media Relations
TULSA, Okla. – Iowa State 174 pounder MJ Gaitan capped an incredible run through the consolation side of his bracket at the 2025 Big 12 Championship Sunday afternoon inside the BOK Center. After losing his first match of the tournament, the Cyclone got hot and strung together four-consecutive victories to finish in third place as the No. 7 seed.
His run included plenty of fireworks along the way. In his first match of the day, Gaitan trailed 9-0 late in his consolation semifinal against South Dakota State’s No. 5 Cade DeVos but threw a headlock to pick up the fall in 6:32 to advance into the third-place match. He then defeated Oklahoma’s No. 3 Gaven Sax, 6-4.
Seven other Cyclones solidified their place on the podium during Session III.
At 165 pounds, Aiden Riggins placed fourth as the No. 8 seed in the tournament. He advanced to the third-place match via medical forfeit before dropping a 1-0 decision to top-seeded Terrell Barraclough.
Jacob Frost was workman-like in a 12-5 decision over South Dakota State’s No. 8 Julian Tagg in the consolation semifinals before he fell to 2023 National Champion Andrew Alirez (UNCO), 8-2, in the consolation finals.
Daniel Herrera fell just short of an automatic national qualifying berth in a winner-goes consolation semifinal against Wyoming’s No. 8 Sam Mitchell. Herrera got the first takedown of the match, but it was Mitchell that prevailed in a 5-3 decision. The freshman bounced back with an exciting 5-3 decision against Oklahoma’s Juan Mora in the fifth-place match to end his tournament on a high note.
Cody Chittum finished his tournament in sixth place. He dropped his consolation semifinal to No. 3 Ryder Downey, 7-6, after giving up a reversal as time expired in the match. The sophomore came up short in his placing match, 4-3, against Wyoming’s Jared Hill.
Evan Frost concluded his tournament by receiving a medical forfeit in the seventh-place match at 133 pounds. At 197 pounds, Nate Schon prevailed in his seventh-place bout over Utah Valley’s Kael Bennie, 9-4.
Cyclone 184-pounder Evan Bockman medically forfeited to sixth place in both of his matches Sunday after an injury default in Saturday’s semifinal.
Iowa State sits in fourth place in the team race with 103.5 points, trailing Oklahoma State (149.5), Northern Iowa (137.5) and South Dakota State (110.0).
Up Next
Paniro Johnson will take on UNI’s top-seeded Colin Realbuto in the 149-pound Big 12 final. The broadcast begins at 8 p.m. on ESPNU and will begin at a weight class yet to be determined.
MATCH-BY-MATCH RESULTS
125: No. 8 Kysen Terukina - DNP
First Round: L-D, 4-1 vs. Tristan Daugherty (NDSU)
Consis. Rd. 1: Bye
Consis. Rd. 2: L-D, 10-3 vs. No. 7 Trever Anderson (UNI)
133: No. 1 Evan Frost – 7th Place
First Round: W-MD, 17-4 vs. Stockton O`Brien (WYO)
QF: L-MD, 20-6 vs. No. 8 Kade Moore (MIZ)
Consis. Rd. 2: W-MD, 14-3 vs. Julian Chlebove (ASU)
Consis. Rd. 3: L-D, 14-13 vs. No. 3 Julian Farber (UNI)
7th-Place Match: W- MFF vs. No. 6 Cleveland Belton (OU)
141: No. 3 Jacob Frost – 4th Place
First Round: W-TF, 16-1 (5:21) vs. Daniel Miranda (ASU)
QF: W-D, 15-8 vs. No. 6 Josh Edmond (MIZ)
SF: L-MD vs. No. 2 Cael Happel (UNI)
Consis. Rd. 4: W-D, 12-5 vs. No. 8 Julian Tagg (SDSU)
3rd-Place Match: L-D, 8-2 vs. No. 1 Andrew Alirez (UNCO)
149: No. 2 Paniro Johnson
First Round: W-D, 2-1 vs. Avery Allen (SDSU)
QF: W-D, 6-5 SV-1 vs. No. 7 Logan Gioffre (MIZ)
SF: W-D, 7-3 vs. Teague Travis (OKST)
Finals: vs. No. 1 Colin Realbuto (UNI)
157: No. 1 Cody Chittum – 6th Place
First Round: vs. Bryce Shelton (AF)
QF: W-MD, 9-0 vs. Caleb Dowling (WVU)
SF: L-MD, 12-4 vs. No. 4 Cobe Siebrecht (SDSU)
Consis. Rd. 4: L-D, 7-6 vs. No. 3 Ryder Downey (UNI)
5th-Place Match: L-D, 4-3 vs. No. 5 Jared Hill (WYO)
165: No. 8 Aiden Riggins – 4th Place
First Round: Bye
QF: L-D, 2-0 vs. No. 1 Terrell Barraclough (UVU)
Consis. Rd. 2: W-D, 10-7 vs. Cooper Voorhees (WYO)
Consis. Rd. 3: W-MD, 11-3 vs. Clayton Ulrey (UNCO)
Consis. Rd. 4: W-MFF vs. No. 6 Nicco Ruiz (ASU)
3rd-Place Match: L-D, 1-0 vs. No. 1 Terrell Barraclough (UVU)
174: No. 7 MJ Gaitan – 3rd Place
First Round: Bye
QF: L-TF, 15-0 (1:44) vs. No. 2 Keegan O`Toole (MIZ)
Consis. Rd. 2: W-D, 4-2 vs. Carter Schmidt (CBU)
Consis. Rd. 3: W-D, 15-9 vs. Aydin Rix-McElhinney (UNCO)
Consis. Rd. 4: WBF (6:32) vs. No. 5 Cade DeVos (SDSU)
3rd-Place Match: W-D, 6-4 vs. No. 3 Gaven Sax (OU)
184: No. 4 Evan Bockman – 6th Place
First Round: W-TF, 19-4 (6:33) vs. Gage Musser (AF)
QF: W-D, 4-1 SV-1 vs. No. 5 Deanthony Parker Jr. (OU)
SF: L-Inj. Def. (3:35) vs. No. 1 Parker Keckeisen (UNI)
Consis. Rd. 4: L-MFF vs. No. 6 Eddie Neitenbach (WYO)
5th-Place Match: MFF vs. No. 5 Deanthony Parker Jr. (OU)
197: No. 6 Nate Schon – 6th Place
First Round: WBF (2:26) vs. Jacob Meissner (ASU)
QF: L-D, 14-8 vs. No. 3 Wyatt Voelker (UNI)
Consis. Rd. 3: L-D. 6-4 vs. Jesse Cassatt (MIZ)
7th-Place Match: W-D, 9-4 vs. Kael Bennie (UVU)
285: No. 6 Daniel Herrera – 5th Place
First Round: WBF (4:36) vs. Andrew Blackburn-Forst (NDSU)
QF: WBF (5:37) vs. No. 3 Lance Runyon (UNI)
SF: L-D, 4-1 vs. No. 2 Cohlton Schultz (ASU)
Consis. Rd. 4: L-D, 5-3 vs. No. 8 Sam Mitchell (WYO)
5th-Place Match: W-D, 5-3 vs. No. 5 Juan Mora (OU)
TULSA, Okla. – Iowa State 174 pounder MJ Gaitan capped an incredible run through the consolation side of his bracket at the 2025 Big 12 Championship Sunday afternoon inside the BOK Center. After losing his first match of the tournament, the Cyclone got hot and strung together four-consecutive victories to finish in third place as the No. 7 seed.
His run included plenty of fireworks along the way. In his first match of the day, Gaitan trailed 9-0 late in his consolation semifinal against South Dakota State’s No. 5 Cade DeVos but threw a headlock to pick up the fall in 6:32 to advance into the third-place match. He then defeated Oklahoma’s No. 3 Gaven Sax, 6-4.
Seven other Cyclones solidified their place on the podium during Session III.
At 165 pounds, Aiden Riggins placed fourth as the No. 8 seed in the tournament. He advanced to the third-place match via medical forfeit before dropping a 1-0 decision to top-seeded Terrell Barraclough.
Jacob Frost was workman-like in a 12-5 decision over South Dakota State’s No. 8 Julian Tagg in the consolation semifinals before he fell to 2023 National Champion Andrew Alirez (UNCO), 8-2, in the consolation finals.
Daniel Herrera fell just short of an automatic national qualifying berth in a winner-goes consolation semifinal against Wyoming’s No. 8 Sam Mitchell. Herrera got the first takedown of the match, but it was Mitchell that prevailed in a 5-3 decision. The freshman bounced back with an exciting 5-3 decision against Oklahoma’s Juan Mora in the fifth-place match to end his tournament on a high note.
Cody Chittum finished his tournament in sixth place. He dropped his consolation semifinal to No. 3 Ryder Downey, 7-6, after giving up a reversal as time expired in the match. The sophomore came up short in his placing match, 4-3, against Wyoming’s Jared Hill.
Evan Frost concluded his tournament by receiving a medical forfeit in the seventh-place match at 133 pounds. At 197 pounds, Nate Schon prevailed in his seventh-place bout over Utah Valley’s Kael Bennie, 9-4.
Cyclone 184-pounder Evan Bockman medically forfeited to sixth place in both of his matches Sunday after an injury default in Saturday’s semifinal.
Iowa State sits in fourth place in the team race with 103.5 points, trailing Oklahoma State (149.5), Northern Iowa (137.5) and South Dakota State (110.0).
Up Next
Paniro Johnson will take on UNI’s top-seeded Colin Realbuto in the 149-pound Big 12 final. The broadcast begins at 8 p.m. on ESPNU and will begin at a weight class yet to be determined.
MATCH-BY-MATCH RESULTS
125: No. 8 Kysen Terukina - DNP
First Round: L-D, 4-1 vs. Tristan Daugherty (NDSU)
Consis. Rd. 1: Bye
Consis. Rd. 2: L-D, 10-3 vs. No. 7 Trever Anderson (UNI)
133: No. 1 Evan Frost – 7th Place
First Round: W-MD, 17-4 vs. Stockton O`Brien (WYO)
QF: L-MD, 20-6 vs. No. 8 Kade Moore (MIZ)
Consis. Rd. 2: W-MD, 14-3 vs. Julian Chlebove (ASU)
Consis. Rd. 3: L-D, 14-13 vs. No. 3 Julian Farber (UNI)
7th-Place Match: W- MFF vs. No. 6 Cleveland Belton (OU)
141: No. 3 Jacob Frost – 4th Place
First Round: W-TF, 16-1 (5:21) vs. Daniel Miranda (ASU)
QF: W-D, 15-8 vs. No. 6 Josh Edmond (MIZ)
SF: L-MD vs. No. 2 Cael Happel (UNI)
Consis. Rd. 4: W-D, 12-5 vs. No. 8 Julian Tagg (SDSU)
3rd-Place Match: L-D, 8-2 vs. No. 1 Andrew Alirez (UNCO)
149: No. 2 Paniro Johnson
First Round: W-D, 2-1 vs. Avery Allen (SDSU)
QF: W-D, 6-5 SV-1 vs. No. 7 Logan Gioffre (MIZ)
SF: W-D, 7-3 vs. Teague Travis (OKST)
Finals: vs. No. 1 Colin Realbuto (UNI)
157: No. 1 Cody Chittum – 6th Place
First Round: vs. Bryce Shelton (AF)
QF: W-MD, 9-0 vs. Caleb Dowling (WVU)
SF: L-MD, 12-4 vs. No. 4 Cobe Siebrecht (SDSU)
Consis. Rd. 4: L-D, 7-6 vs. No. 3 Ryder Downey (UNI)
5th-Place Match: L-D, 4-3 vs. No. 5 Jared Hill (WYO)
165: No. 8 Aiden Riggins – 4th Place
First Round: Bye
QF: L-D, 2-0 vs. No. 1 Terrell Barraclough (UVU)
Consis. Rd. 2: W-D, 10-7 vs. Cooper Voorhees (WYO)
Consis. Rd. 3: W-MD, 11-3 vs. Clayton Ulrey (UNCO)
Consis. Rd. 4: W-MFF vs. No. 6 Nicco Ruiz (ASU)
3rd-Place Match: L-D, 1-0 vs. No. 1 Terrell Barraclough (UVU)
174: No. 7 MJ Gaitan – 3rd Place
First Round: Bye
QF: L-TF, 15-0 (1:44) vs. No. 2 Keegan O`Toole (MIZ)
Consis. Rd. 2: W-D, 4-2 vs. Carter Schmidt (CBU)
Consis. Rd. 3: W-D, 15-9 vs. Aydin Rix-McElhinney (UNCO)
Consis. Rd. 4: WBF (6:32) vs. No. 5 Cade DeVos (SDSU)
3rd-Place Match: W-D, 6-4 vs. No. 3 Gaven Sax (OU)
184: No. 4 Evan Bockman – 6th Place
First Round: W-TF, 19-4 (6:33) vs. Gage Musser (AF)
QF: W-D, 4-1 SV-1 vs. No. 5 Deanthony Parker Jr. (OU)
SF: L-Inj. Def. (3:35) vs. No. 1 Parker Keckeisen (UNI)
Consis. Rd. 4: L-MFF vs. No. 6 Eddie Neitenbach (WYO)
5th-Place Match: MFF vs. No. 5 Deanthony Parker Jr. (OU)
197: No. 6 Nate Schon – 6th Place
First Round: WBF (2:26) vs. Jacob Meissner (ASU)
QF: L-D, 14-8 vs. No. 3 Wyatt Voelker (UNI)
Consis. Rd. 3: L-D. 6-4 vs. Jesse Cassatt (MIZ)
7th-Place Match: W-D, 9-4 vs. Kael Bennie (UVU)
285: No. 6 Daniel Herrera – 5th Place
First Round: WBF (4:36) vs. Andrew Blackburn-Forst (NDSU)
QF: WBF (5:37) vs. No. 3 Lance Runyon (UNI)
SF: L-D, 4-1 vs. No. 2 Cohlton Schultz (ASU)
Consis. Rd. 4: L-D, 5-3 vs. No. 8 Sam Mitchell (WYO)
5th-Place Match: W-D, 5-3 vs. No. 5 Juan Mora (OU)
